Literary Divas We Can’t Help But Love

There are divas and there are their lesser-known male counterparts, divos; the thing that unites them is their willingness to make demands and to do whatever it takes to stay in the spotlight. You cannot wrestle their trophies away from them; they will never give you the opportunity. A diva is a prima donna; the ego is there for all to see. There’s a vulnerability to that which can be touching, but most of the time you’ll never see it because the show they put on often obscures any real sense of themselves; they create and become spectacles — especially in the book world.

Terry McMillan

After the best-selling author of Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back appeared on Oprah with her gay ex-husband, Jonathan, she attempted to sue her ex for $40 million, citing “emotional distress and ruining her reputation.” (She withdrew her case before it went to trial.) Just take a look at her re-enactment of his confession here and tell us she’s not all about the drama.